Speaking about Circassian song and poetry,
it is impossible not to mention their versifiers and balladeers. In the old
days, musical traditions were upheld by a professional class of roving
minstrels whose members were collectively and singly known as äæýãóàêIóý; jegwak’we, or
players. Some of the more accomplished of these were lured by, and became
attached to the aristocratic classes. In origin, the bards were usually
commoners, and they did not receive any special education or training, relying
on their inborn talents. They engaged exclusively in the art of poetry and
song. These bards singly or in bands roamed the land; their instruments
affording them not only safe conduct, but also rapturous welcome. They
performed songs and recited heroic poems at festivals and for the pleasure of
the upper classes, which received them in their exclusive guesthouses.

Their
exquisite music talents and social skills afforded them to play the role of
masters of ceremonies (õüýòèÿêIóý; hetiyyak’we) at dance parties and
their entrancing eloquence made them premium toastmasters at banquets and
festivals. They were improvisatorspar excellence,
delighting (or slighting) in airing satirical songs extempore. They also played
the jesters, donning the cap and bells in settings of lighter nature. They
composed songs commemorating sanguinary events, national and glorious deeds and
feats of distinction in battle, composed biographies of celebrated men and sang
ancient songs, including gems from the Nart Epos. They also took part in
military campaigns, singing war chants that instilled courage and fortitude in
the warriors. These minstrels found in this occupation not only subsistence but
also wealth. Every prince retained a few of these singers in his court,
bestowing opulent gifts upon them. Apart from their high status as
entertainers, they composed songs in praise of their patron. A potentate had
high stakes riding on keeping his bards happy to escape their virulent tongues,
which could perpetuate airs of malediction for ages—a sound case of the tongue
being sharper than the sword. (An old saying goes, ‘Weredwis
— pschipse’wx’ [«Óýðýäóñ— ïùû ïñýIóõ»], ‘The songwriter is the terror of the prince.’) Of his oratorial powers, a great bard once boasted: ‘With but one word, I could turn a coward into the brave
protector of the homeland; I could cause eagle’s wings to grow on the brave and
compel
the thief to abandon
his wicked ways. In my presence, the wicked dare not stand, for I
am the mortal enemy of dishonesty and meanness…’ («Ñý êúýðàáãúýð çû ïñàëúýêIý õàõóý, Õýêóì è õúóìàêIóý ñîùIûô, ëIûõúóæüûì áãúýì è äàìý êúûòûçîãúàêIý, äûãúóì è õüýëûð çûõûçîãúýí. Ñè ïàùõüý êúèóâýôûíóêúûì öIûõó
áçàäæýð, ñý öIûõóãúýíøàãúýì, èêIàãúýì ñðàáèéù...») In general, oratory
(particularly the delivery of toasts) had a great effect on the Circassians,
who would become literally spellbound and mesmerized by the invocation of the
magic words. When a folk poet composed a song and it was approved for release,
singers from neighbouring regions were summoned to
listen to the song for as many times as it took for all the audience to learn
it by heart.

The members of
this class composed songs commemorating sanguinary events, national and
glorious deeds and feats of distinction in battle,
composed biographies of celebrated men and sang ancient songs. They also took
part in military campaigns, singing war chants that instilled courage and
fortitude in the warriors. In describing the battle to take the Khazar City of Sarkala ( Sarkel) on the Don, a poet recounted:

The singer kept
chanting atop his white steed,

And the horn
blowers filled the air with blood-curdling screeches.

Our heroes,
animated, performed feats of glory,

And the flames of
war engulfed the lands beyond the Azov.

They were in
many respects not very unlike the bards and minstrels of the Franks and Celts.
In this manner, these singers preserved the exploits of the ancestors, by
transmitting them to their progeny. They also kept in memory much of the
national lore, history, and literature.

When a folk poet composed a song and it was
approved for release, singers from neighbouring regions were
summoned to listen to the song for as many times as it took for all the
audience to learn it by heart. Then these went back to their villages and sang
it, thus spreading it by word of mouth (A. Keshokov,
1981, p15). In the nearer past, these musicians included violin-players, poets
and singers. According to Askerbi Shorten ( Shortanov; b. 1916), these ‘players’ were the voices of the
masses, singing for freedom and the downfall of tyranny—a repetitive Soviet
theme that was taken to the realm of the ridiculous and beyond.

The QilishbiyVillage (now Nartan) minstrel, BechmirzePasch’e (1859-1936),
apart from being the founder of modern Kabardian poetry, was a very versatile
songwriter, in the best tradition of the bards. He immortalized the Kabardian
revolt of 1913 against Tsarist rule in the famous song ‘Dzeliqwe
War’. He made use of the traditional heroic song genre to convey his ideas, as
in ‘ WeziMuratyiWered’ (‘The Song of MuratWezi’). A collection of his
poems and compositions (Wisaghexer) was published
in 1963.

The ‘ancient
bards’ survived well into the 20th century, roaming the land and delivering
their wares to enchanted listeners. Among them were LasheAghnoqwe (1851-1918) from the village of Doqwschiqwey in Kabarda ; As-hedSchojen, a Kabardian player of the harp (pshinediqwaqwe ); SehiydMizhey (1850-1949); Muse Mizhey
(1894-?); As-hedHex’wpasch’e
from the village of Qex’wn in Kabarda; MirzebechWerdoqwe (1884-?) from
the village of Hebez in present-day
Karachai-Cherkessia, a famous singer of Nart songs in his time; and YelmirzeSchawezch (1882-1979)
from Anzorey in Kabarda, who played ancient Nart
anthems on his shich’epshine.